GiTP Prestige Class Contest XLVII: Rebirth

[Techwarrior]

Rebirth!

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There is no magic like resurrection magic because resurrection magic is -- highly expensive.

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Giant in the Playground PrC Contest XLVII

The contest begins with the posting of this thread and will run through midnight of Sunday, October 5th.

Soon after a poll will be opened for everyone to vote for their favorite that will last until midnight of Monday, October 13th.

Rules

1) You will be creating an 'original' prestige class based on rebirth. Anything from phoenix hunters to masters of revivification magic to a dragonborn paragon of Bahamut. The sky is the limit (feel free to use any of the above) and anything that is official Wizards of the Coast or Paizo Pathfinder material is allowed for source material. Homebrew material as a base is allowed by permission (just ask).

2) Entries must include name, complete class, and fluff, combat related and role playing related. Incomplete entries at the deadline will be disqualified.

3) Entries must be 3.5 or Pathfinder, using the standard format below.

4) Post all entries in this thread. Post all conversation, questions, etc here in the
chat thread) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=285092).

5) Maximum of one entry per participant (gotta save up those creative juices for the next one too!)

6) Entries must be your own work, and must not be copied for other places. Only new work may submitted; no previously posted work will be accepted. Such entries will be disqualified.

7) No reserving posts. Feel free to tweak your class, but the initial post must include the basics.



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And here's helpers if you need it!

(Fax Celestis' Prestige Class Creation Thread) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10433)
(Djinn_In_Tonic's What to make and How to make it special!) (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137641)

[Techwarrior]

PRESTIGE CLASS NAME

http://Picture URL

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

A general description of whatever the class is!

BECOMING A CLASS NAME
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
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Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: dx



Level
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Will Save
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10th

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Weapon Proficiencies: A place to put the different proficiencies.
Put all the different class abilities in here!

PLAYING A CLASS NAME
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

CLASS NAME IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.


Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
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AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
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Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

PRESTIGE CLASS NAME

http://Picture URL

Quote of Some Kind by a member of the class!

A general description of whatever the class is!

BECOMING A CLASS NAME
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
:
:
:
:
:

Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: dx

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

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10th|
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+x|Class Ability[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A place to put the different proficiencies.
Put all the different class abilities in here!

PLAYING A CLASS NAME
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

CLASS NAME IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.


Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
------------------------------------------------
AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
------------------------------------------------
Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

[ezkajii]

REBORN

Finally, I am what I was truly meant to be. Forget whatever you remember about the old me. From now on, this is all that I am.

- Jerniah, upon completing his rebirth.

Reborn characters desire desperately to become something they are not. They've glimpsed what life can be like in a new body and long to have their perfect self. By striking a deal with an immensely powerful entity, the character sacrifices their current body and mind in exchange for a new set, reforged from the ether. The path is certainly not for everyone, but those who choose to walk down it rarely, if ever, look back with regret.

BECOMING REBORN
Just about anyone can become reborn. Due to the specific requirements for entry, it almost necessitates either access to powerful magic oneself or making allies with those who wield such powers. Besides this, skill-based classes make light of the Knowledge requirements.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Skills: 13 ranks in any one of the following Knowledge skills: arcana, the planes, or religion.
Special: Must have experienced a permanent change in form. This can be accomplished by means of certain spells (like polymorph any object or reincarnate), through the use of grafts, or through certain acquired templates or class features that grant new body parts, such as wings or claws.

Class Skills
At each level, the reborn character chooses one of her existing classes to serve as the clas skill list for the purposes of skill point allocation for that level.
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d8



Level
Base Attack
Bonus
Fort
Save
Ref
Save
Will
Save
Special


1st

+1

+1

+1

+1
Evasion, pact of rebirth, pounce



2nd

+2

+1

+1

+1
Advance class features, skill mastery, sublime grace



3rd

+3

+2

+2

+2
Mettle



4th

+4

+2

+2

+2
Adapted defense, advance class features



5th

+5

+3

+3

+3
Rebirth




Weapon Proficiencies: Reborn characters gain no weapon proficiencies by virtue of this class.
Pact of Rebirth: A creature seeking rebirth makes a pact with some powerful, perhaps unknowable outside entity or force of the universe, such as a deity, demon lord, archangel, etc, as appropriate to the corresponding Knowledge skill used to qualify for this class. This pact stipulates that in exchange for the very essence of her being, slowly collected through advancement in this class, this entity will eventually create a new body, and perhaps even elements of the mind and soul, for the character to inhabit. In terms of game mechanics, the character to be reborn decreases each of her ability scores by 2 points at 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels in this class. This is not ability damage or drain, nor is it a penalty applied to the score; the base score is actually reduced, in exactly the opposite manner it would be increased if selected for the normal ability score improvement gained by all characters on every fourth level. Ability scores cannot be reduced to below 1 in this manner (or 3, in the case of Intelligence); however, for each point below this minimum the score would be reduced by the pact, the character suffers an additional -1 penalty on the associated ability check and all skill checks based on that ability score. Though this ability reduction severely weakens the reborn by her fourth level, her abilities are restored (and then some) in the rebirth (see below).
Evasion (Ex): As her body and mind first begin to falter, the reborn begins to (out of necessity) master the art of survival. She gains evasion at 1st level, as the monk class feature. If she already possesses evasion, she gains Improved Evasion (also as the monk class feature). If she has Improved Evasion already, this has no effect.
Pounce (Ex): At 1st level, the reborn learns to make the most of her failing strength. She can now make a full attack at the end of a charge.
Advance Class Features: At 2nd level and again at 4th, the character on the path to rebirth successfully makes up enough study to advance an effective level in her previous class. Each time this ability is gained, the reborn can select one class to which she belonged prior to gaining levels in this prestige class. She gains an effective level in that class; she uses the HD, skill points, and saving throw increases from the reborn class, but gains class features and improvement upon existing features as if she gained a level in the other class. She is considered one level higher in that class as well; for instance, a rogue 12/fighter3/reborn2 who advances her rogue level would be treated as a 13th level rogue for the purposes of her improved uncanny dodge ability, and would gain an additional sneak attack die and a special ability of her choosing.
Skill Mastery (Ex): At 2nd level, the character seeking to be reborn begins to internalize her training, relying more on instinct and muscle memory to perform complicated tasks than knowledge of such tasks. She may take 10, even while under stress or otherwise not normally able to do so, with a number of skills equal to the character's Intelligence modifier (not including any magical enhancements or temporary bonuses). If her Intelligence modifier ever increases, she may select an additional skill to master in this way. A reduction of Intelligence never leads to unlearning a skill mastery.
Sublime Grace (Ex): Also at 2nd level, the reborn gains a bonus on all saving throws equal to her Charisma modifier (if positive). This effect does not stack with any other ability that provides a Charisma-based bonus to saving throws, including a paladin's divine grace class feature or the unearthly grace racial ability of the nymph.
Mettle (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, the reborn learns to rely on a previously untapped inner reserve of power to resist harmful effects. If she makes a successful Will or Fortitude save against an attack that normally would have a lesser effect on a successful save (such as any spell with a saving throw entry of Will half or Fortitude partial), she instead completely negates the effect. An unconscious or sleeping character does not gain the benefit of mettle.
Adapted Defense (Ex or Su): By 4th level, a character seeking rebirth has sacrificed much of herself toward this end. She is a fragile creature, and so has adapted to survive in unusual ways. The character may select any one ability score other than Dexterity, and add it to their AC in the following manner:
Strength: The character heaves the weight of her armor around by virtue of her bulk, making more efficient use of armor. Any armor bonus to AC is increased by an amount equal to the character's Strength bonus.
Constitution: The character relies on an inborn durability to protect herself from the worst attacks. Her natural armor bonus (0, if not listed) improves by an amount equal to her Constitution score.
Intelligence: The character has learned that by carefully observing the enemy and making quick, almost subconscious calculations on the fly, many attacks can be accurately predicted and avoided. She gains an insight bonus to AC equal to her Intelligence modifier.
Wisdom: The character relies on her instincts, detecting subtle changes in her environment and reacting as if possessing a sixth sense for danger. When wearing light armor or no armor, and when carrying no more than a medium load, she may add her Wisdom modifier to her AC, in the same way a Monk does. This bonus to AC applies even against touch attacks and when flat-footed, but not when immobilized or helpless.
Charisma: The character has discovered there is something in her very soul that discourages attackers from landing solid hits, or following through with the full force of the blade. She gains a deflection bonus to AC equal to her Charisma modifier. This is a supernatural ability; all other AC bonuses are extraordinary.
These bonuses actively correspond to the tied ability score, increasing and decreasing as they do. Likely, this feature will not serve the reborn well immediately, but will come in quite handy after the rebirth.
Rebirth (Su): Upon gaining the fifth and final level in this class, the character is reborn in a supernatural process that takes 1 hour to complete and must occur in solitude. If this process cannot be completed upon gaining fifth level, all other level-dependent benefits accumulate as normal, and the rebirth occurs at the next available opportunity.
The rebirth has two primary effects. The first is that the character's body is restored; each ability score improves by 4d4 points. Like the reduction, this is not a bonus of any kind, and is a natural adjustment to the scores. If you desire that the player have more direct control in the rebirth process, you can opt to instead grant him or her 50 points to distribute into ability scores. The first 10 points of improvement to a given score each cost 1 point apiece; from 11-20, each ability score increase costs 2 points; and beyond 20 points to a single score, three points must be spent for each point of ability increase. The second, more profound effect is that the reborn character chooses a new form. The fine details of her appearance remain the same, so she is recognizable to close friends and family, but the nature of her physiology changes dramatically. She may select one of the following creature types for her new form. She gains the traits appropriate to that type, but not the type features (as described in the Monster Manual glossary). Each type also grants additional abilities, as described below.
Aberration: The character's appearance grows bizarre in some subtle way - chitinous skin, bulging eyes, a coating of slime, etc. She also gains a retractable tentacle, located somewhere of her choice on the body, which can be used to attack for 1d4 damage (1d3 for a Small reborn and 1d6 for a Large), and which has a reach 5ft greater than the character's normal reach. She also gains Improved Grab (Ex) with regards to this tentacle - see the Monster Manual glossary for details. Finally, she gains the Madness (Ex) special quality - anyone targeting the reborn character with a telepathy, mind control, or thought detection ability makes direct contact with an alien mind and suffers 1d4 points of Wisdom damage.
Construct: The character is remade as a living construct, gaining also the subtype of the same name. She appears crafted of fine metals and stone, wrought in exquisite detail. She also gains DR 10/adamantine, and a slam attack which deals 1d6 damage (1d4 Small, 1d8 Large).
Dragon: The character is covered in scales, and she possesses a small tail (too weak to be used in combat). She also gains a Breath Weapon (Su) of her choice from among the following: cone of acid, cone of cold, line of lightning, cone of fire. Cones are 30ft long and the line is 60ft long, and the breath weapon deals 1d6 damage for every two HD of the reborn (or half on a successful Reflex save against DC 10 + 1/2HD + Constitution bonus). This breath weapon is useable once per day per point of Constitution modifier, and the reborn must wait 1d4 rounds between breathing. She also gains resistance 20 with regard to the chosen element, and gains the associated subtype (air=electric, earth=acid).
Elemental: A character reborn as an elemental must choose either air, earth, fire, or water as a subtype, becoming an elemental of the appropriate type. She retains the same basic shape but her body is crafted wholly from the chosen element. She also gains the Vortex (Ex) ability: once per hour, the character can transform into a whirl of air, dirt and dust, fire, or water, and remain in that form for every 2 HD she has. In vortex form, an air or fire elemental can fly at its base land speed or fly speed (whichever is faster), an earth elemental can move at its land speed, and a water elemental can move on land or swim at either its base land speed or its swim speed, whichever is faster. Movement in vortex form does not provoke attacks of opportunity, even if moving into another creature's space. Creatures one size category or smaller than the reborn elemental must succeed on a Reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2HD + Strength bonus) or be picked up and held suspended in the powerful currents, automatically taking 1d6 damage each round (1d4 for a small elemental, 2d6 for a large, and 2d8 if huge or larger). An affected creature is allowed a Reflex save each round to escape the vortex; if successful, they take damage as normal but leave the vortex. Creatures trapped within the vortex cannot move except to go where the reborn carries them or to escape the whirlwind; they may otherwise act normally, but must make a Concentration check (DC 10 + spell level) to cast spells, and suffer a -4 penalty to Dexterity and a -2 penalty to attack rolls. The elemental can eject any carried creatures she wishes, depositing them on the ground below. Vortexes of earth, fire, or water obscure all visoin, including darkvision, beyond 5ft. Creatures 5ft away have concealment and those farther away have total concealment. In vortex form, the character does not threaten her surrounding area and cannot make any attacks or cast spells.
Fey: The character's skin sparkles faintly, the colors in her eyes shift like passing clouds, and she appears of very short stature for her size category. She gains DR 10/cold iron, and three spell-like abilities, each useable at will, which can be selected from any spell on the sorcerer/wizard or druid lists that is an enchantment or illusion and of 2nd level or lower.
Giant: The character assumes a hefty form and gruff countenance. Her size increases by one size category, and she gains Rock Throwing (Ex) and Rock Catching (Ex), as the abilities described in the Monster Manual. In addition, she gains a slam attack, which deals 1d8 damage (1d6 for a Medium reborn giant, 2d6 for a Huge one.)
Humanoid: A character reborn as a humanoid must select a humanoid-specific subtype (dwarf, elf, goblinoid, human, orc, reptilian, etc.) Her appearance changes to match the specific subtype chosen, as appropriate, and allows her to be treated as a specific race for purposes of any items, effects, and requirements which are baesd upon race. Beyond the ability score increases granted by the rebirth itself, being reborn as a humanoid grants the character a +4 improvement to a single ability score, +2 to to ability scores, or +1 to four ability scores. It also provides the character with two bonus feats, which can be any feat for which the character qualifies.
Magical Beast: The character looks somewhat bestial. She gains a light coat of fur, and her rear legs lengthen and the knee joints reverse. She can, at her option, walk bipedally or choose to walk quadripedally; if she walks on all four limbs, her carrying capacity is increased appropriately for being a quadruped. She also gains a bite attack and two claw attacks, which deal 1d6 and 1d8 damage respectively (assuming a Medium creature). She also gains the Improved Critical feat for both of these natural weapons.
Monstrous Humanoid: The character becomes slightly more monstrous in some significant aspect, gaining feline eyes and whiskers, small (nonfunctional) horns, vestigial wings, or some other such feature. She gains two bonus feats, which can be selected from among any feats the reborn qualifies for. However, by meditating for 1 minute at the beginning of each day, she may change the selection of these bonus feats. She must always qualify for the selected bonus feat and cannot use a feat that she will be removing to qualify for a newly selected feat.
Ooze: The character retains the same approximate form, but is made of a single contiguous mass of monochromatic jelly. Unlike most oozes, she is not mindless, however she is blind. Luckily, her new body serves as a primitive sensory organ, granting her Blindsense (Ex) to a range of 30ft. In addition, she gains Split (Ex): Slashing and piercing weapons deal no damage to the reborn ooze, instead splitting her into two identical copies of herself with half the original's current hit points (rounding down). A split ooze with 10 hit points or less cannot be further split and dies if reduced to 0 hit points.
Outsider: The character's appearance changes in a hard-to-describe way, making her appear somehow more stately and imposing. Additionally, her form reflects her alignment: good characters may have golden hair and small feathered wings, evil characters may sprout horns and thick red hide, lawful characters become more symmetrical and even in form, and chaotic characters may appear to have the parts from several different creatures or some ever-shifting form. All reborn outsiders must select whether to possess the native subtype or the extraplanar subtype; if extraplanar is selected, the character must designate a non-Material plane as her new home plane. She may also choose to possess any alignment subtypes that match one of her alignment components; a lawful neutral reborn outsider could select the lawful subtype, but not chaotic, good, or evil. Additionally, the character gains five spell-like abilities. These may be selected from among all sorcerer/wizard and cleric spells of 4th level or lower. A spell of 0 or 1st-level is useable at will; 2nd- and 3rd-level spells are useable 3/day; and 4th-level spells are useable only 1/day.
Plant: The character's skin either turns green or grows thick and woody, and her overall appearance becomes more sinewy and flowing. A reborn plant character gains DR 10/slashing and Photosynthesis (Ex), which allows the reborn to go an entire day without food as long as she gets at least 1 hour of direct sunlight exposure of 4 hours of indirect exposure.
Undead: The character's flesh appears pale and sickly, and slowly decays as time goes on. Her eyes appear sunken, with receded gums and sparse (if any) hair. A character reborn as an undead creature gains turn resistance +5 and Unholy Toughness (Ex), gaining bonus hit points equal to her HD times her Charisma modifier.
In addition, a character of any type may select up to two elemental subtypes, with the following caveat: A character cannot possess both the earth and air subtypes, and fire can be paired with neither water nor cold. She may also select either the psionic subtype or the incarnum subtype, if desired, gaining 1 power point or 1 essentia, respectively, if no pool currently exists of the appropriate points. Finally, she may choose to select the swarm subtype; if this subtype is selected, the additional benefits for each type described above are not gained. The reborn's appearance changes to a swarm of winged humanoids (with bird wings if good, fly wings if neutral, and bat wings if evil). She is treated as a swarm of Tiny creatures of the appropriate type, with the Hivemind (Ex) ability, allowing for the swarm to function with a single intellect and remain undispersed below zero hit points, instead following the rules for a single creature while suffering a negative hit point total.

PLAYING A REBORN CHARACTER
At the heart of the reborn class is the desire to permanently change the very nature of one's being. These characters may have been unhappy for one reason or another in the past, but typically show a steadfast determinism once the pact has been made, knowing that once the rebirth is complete, they will truly feel at peace with themselves. From a combat perspective, the character will mostly serve the same role it did before taking levels in this class, though it may struggle to perform at the same level until after it completes the class, at which point it should excel in its desired field.
Combat: As mentioned above, this class does not offer much in the way of new combat options. With the pounce ability at 1st level and a full base attack bonus, this certainly serves single-attribute-dependent martial characters more than it does casters or multiple-attribute-dependent characters such as monks and paladins.
Advancement: The primary avenue of customization for a reborn character comes from the class' capstone, and the type and subtypes chosen at that point (as well as ability score point distribution is using the provided variant).
Resources: In the later levels of this prestige class, the various abilities gained will be dearly required for basic survival. A fourth level reborn is dependent on her friends and allies for support, though even with the hefty ability reduction, should be able to hold her own in short battles.

REBORN CHARACTERS IN THE WORLD
I wonder what kind of power you'd have to have to even be able to re-create your self like that. Are these pacts with gods or devils? Or is this the working of deranged men?

- Oexerus, archmage and recluse

Known by few and understood by even fewer, the process of rebirth - and by extension, its practitioners - is considered anything from strange and exotic to reckless and dangerous. Rarely do the reborn profess themselves as such, as they (ironically, perhaps) identify themselves more with their previous classes. In fact, the common nomenclature for such characters refers only tangentially to their reborn nature - a human fighter 15/reborn 5 would be referred to as an Reborn Fighter, rather than a Fighter/Reborn, and without reference (usually) to their new type.

Daily Life: Characters with a few levels in the class may find their days much as they were before, if perhaps a bit harder in some regards. But a completely reborn character views every day as a blessing, a new opportunity to explore their new form and bring themselves to bear on the world around them. It can, perhaps, be overbearing at time for those in the reborn's immediate vicinity.
Notables: Few, if any, kings, conquerors, or heroes are well-known to have been reborn. However, many reborn say it is likely that the greatest figures of legends accomplished their feats post-rebirth - they argue that the odds of getting exactly the right soul in exactly the right body at the right time and place are so slim, that surely some divine (or quasi-divine) intervention played a part in their success.
Organizations: Rare as they are, the seekers of rebirth don't often congregate, and when they do, in no numbers so large as to merit naming the group. However, with their focus on self-improvement and -attunement, many gravitate toward monastic orders, though often only the most 'fringe' of these will accept the reborn. This is true of the openly-reborn; those who are not may simply join the orders appropriate to their previous classes - fighters', thieves', or mages' guilds, knightly orders, and so forth.

NPC Reaction
I've heard about these 'rebirthers', or what-you-call-it. Seem like a bunch of weirdos to me. Disrespectful to their parents, to their communities. It ain't right.

-Kleitus, wheat farmer
I think it's noble, what they're doing. You have to be true to yourself. If you know what you want, what you need, and you go for it - well, there's no more righteous goal than that.

-Saebira, daughter of a deposed duke

A character undertaking the path to rebirth generally does so as an aside; while an all-consuming reality for the reborn, it often has little to no bearing on her general interactions with the public. Among friends and family, however, the decision is often fraught with controversy - can such a great sacrifice truly be worth it in the end? Of course, the reborn would argue it is, especially having learned so much about themselves through the struggle. Few people in the world have walked the path of rebirth, and for many, it seems a strange and dangerous choice.

REBORN CHARACTERS IN THE GAME
Having a character with levels in this prestige class in the party will most definitely upset the usual balance of power, and is best suited for experienced players who are not afraid to roleplay, possibly extensively, and even in combat. In a campaign that begins at level 20 or above, or which uses an early-entry-modified version of this class and begins above its minimum completion level, the possibility for an unusual creature type in the party will be the biggest wildcard. It is recommended, as always, that any player wishing to play reborn discusses these issues with the DM beforehand and gets his or her approval.
Adaptation: In an already-low-powered campaign setting, consider reducing the pact's ability reductions to -1 per level instead of -2, reducing the increases gained from Rebirth to 2d4 (or 25 points, using the variant). Additionally, you could tie the 'powerful entity' with whom the pact is made to a specific figure, creature, or even location, as appropriate for the setting.
Encounters: Reborn NPCs are relatively unlikely, as with most rare prestige classes. However, those encountered are likely to be either the pinnacle of some organization, the second in command, or a reclusive shut-in who has focused on gaining power. They could be powerful allies or dangerous foes, or simply require the PCs' assistance to achieve some objective (at which point their rebirth will begin).

Sample Encounter
After destroying myriad monsters thrown their way by the corrupt warlord, a group of plucky-and-then-some adventurers finally penetrate his defenses and make their way to the general's war room. They bust down the door, prepare for a fight to the death, but what they find is a whirling vortex of flame. Stunned into stillness for a moment, a crackling voice bellows out from the inferno. "I've been expecting you."
EL 17: The reborn fire elemental warlord


General Dradias Flint
LE Male Human Fighter 17/Reborn 5
Init +6, Senses: Darkvision 60ft; Listen +1, Spot +1,
Languages Common, Giant
------------------------------------------------
AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 27 (+1 Dex, +18 armor, +9 shield)
hp179 (20HD)
Fort +17, Ref +11, Will +10
Immunities elemental immunities, immunity to fire
Vulnerabilities vulnerability to cold
------------------------------------------------
Speed 20ft. (4 squares) (base 30ft)
Melee +2 flaming burst longsword +29/+24/+19/+14 melee (1d8+9 plus 1d6 fire/17-20/x2 plus 1d10 fire)
Base Atk +20, Grp +25
Atk Options Great cleave, improved bull rush, improved overrun, improve sunder, pounce, power attack, vortex
Combat Gear +5 full plate, +5 tower shield, +2 flaming burst longsword
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 20, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 13, Cha 12
SQ Adapted defense (strength), darkvision 60ft, elemental traits, evasion, mettle, skill mastery (climb, intimidate, and swim), sublime grace
Feats Blind-Fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus (longsword), Greater Weapon Specialization (longsword), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (longsword), Improved Initiative, Improved Overrun, Improved Sunder, Leadership, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack
Skills Climb 28, Handle Animal 9, Intimidate 24, Knowledge (religion) 18, Jump 28, Swim 28
Possessions Combat gear only; all other possessions in safe

[Just to Browse]

PHOENIXBORNE
http://i.imgur.com/LM6H57N.jpg

"When close to death, the phoenix immolates itself and from the ashes of its body rises a new bird, complete in health. How can you not yearn for such a form of immortality?" ~ Wolfram Ashborn

Phoenixborne are specially attuned with the powers of the phoenix. They control powerful magic at the cost of their own lifeblood, and can bring themselves to full health even from the brink of death.

Becoming a Phoenixborne
Phoenixborne must gain their powers through some sort of connection with a phoenix. Most receive blessings from the legendary creatures as a reward for heroics, though there are tales of evil creatures who drink phoenix blood in order to gain their power.

Entry Requirements

Base Fortitude Save: +3
One of the following:

Base Attack Bonus: +3
Fire Resistance: 5

Special: Must have been blessed by a phoenix or consumed its flesh or blood.


Class Skills
The phoenixborne's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography, History, and Nobility) (Int), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str).
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Intelligence modifier

Hit Dice: d10


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special


1st
+0
+2
+2
+0
Burning vigor, phoenix magic


2nd
+1
+3
+3
+0
Sacrificial Burn


3rd
+2
+3
+3
+1
Revival


4th
+3
+4
+4
+1
Burning Guardian


5th
+3
+4
+4
+1
Flight of the Phoenix


6th
+4
+5
+5
+2
From the Ashes


7th
+5
+5
+5
+2
Sacred Flame


8th
+6
+6
+6
+2
Embody the Phoenix


9th
+6
+6
+6
+3
True Revival


10th
+7
+7
+7
+3
Divine Fire



Weapon Proficiencies: A phoenixborne gains no proficiency with weapons or armor.

Burning Vigor (Ex): The phoenixborne embraces the strength of the phoenix from which he draws his power. Whenever he hasn't lost hit points or made an attack roll for 3 rounds, he gains fast healing 1.

In addition, the phoenixborne gains fire resistance equal to twice his hit dice.

Phoenix Magic (Sp): Magic flows through the phoenixborne's veins, granting him resistances to certain conditions. [Fear] effects that affect the phoenixborne end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a remove fear effect.

At level 2, paralysis effects also end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a remove paralysis effect.

At level 4, curses also end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a remove curse effect.

At level 5, diseases also end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a remove disease effect.

At level 7, poisons also end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a neutralize poison effect.

At level 8, compulsion effects also end at the end of his turn as if he was under a mind blank effect.

At level 9, enchantments effects also end at the end of his turn, as if he was under a break enchantment effect.

These spell-like abilities are treated as though they had been cast by a cleric of twice the phoenixborne's level.

Sacrificial Burn (Su): At level 2, the phoenixborne can spend a swift action and sacrifice 5 hit points to deal 1d6 fire damage per phoenixborne level to all adjacent targets. A reflex save (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Constitution modifier) is allowed for half damage.

Revival (Su): The level 3 phoenixborne can channel the power of the phoenix to kill himself and return from the dead. As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, he can end his life and turn into an egg with AC 5, hit points equal to his maximum hit points, and hardness equal to twice his phoenixborne level. Equipment melds into this egg. At his next initiative count, if the egg is not destroyed, the phoenixborne returns to life at half his maximum hit points. All conditions that could be removed by phoenix magic are removed, but no other conditions are removed and the phoenixborne is additionally exhausted and loses all actions on that turn.

The phoenixborne cannot use this ability if he is exhausted.

At level 6, the phoenixborne's Revival ability only leaves him fatigued when he uses it normally (not when he uses From the Ashes). At level 9, this ability does not leave him fatigued or exhausted when he uses it normally.

Burning Guardian (Sp): At 4th level, the phoenixborne can spend a swift action and sacrifice 10 hit points to remove any condition from an ally in close range that he could remove using phoenix magic.

Flight of the Phoenix: At level 5, the phoenixborne gains a set of wings resembling those of a phoenix that allow him to fly at his base land speed with average maneuverability. These can either be physical wings (which require special armor and clothing accommodations) or magical wings with no physical traits (treated as a level 3 spell cast by a cleric of twice the phoenixborne's level).

From the Ashes (Su): When the level 6 phoenixborne is killed, he can elect to instead create an spead that deals 2d6 fire damage per phoenixborne level to all targets within 15 feet. After that, he treats himself as if he had just used Revival. A reflex saving throw (DC 10 + 1/2 HD + Constitution modifier) is allowed for half damage. This leaves the phoenixborne exhausted even if he is normally immune to fatigue effects. At level 9, the phoenixborne is only fatigued when he uses this ability.

The phoenixborne cannot use this ability while he is exhausted. In addition, phoenixborne no longer accrue attribute changes as they age and cannot die of old age. Current attribute changes stay as they are.

Sacred Flame (Su): The level 7 phoenixborne can spend an immediate action and sacrifice 20 hit points to grant allies within 60 feet of him a +5 sacred bonus to AC and saves for 1 round.

Embody the Phoenix (Ex): At level 8, the phoenixborne is immune to fire damage and can communicate with any avian creature as though they shared a common language. His fast healing from burning vigor improves to fast healing 5.

True Revival (Su): Whenever the 9th level phoenixborne comes back to life with Revival or From the Ashes, he returns to maximum hit points with no conditions affecting him except fatigue/exhaustion. In addition, when he turns into an egg using Revival or From the Ashes, he can choose to wait any period of time longer than one round before being revived.

Divine Fire (Su): Half the fire damage dealt by a level 10 phoenixborne is considered divine damage and is not reduced by fire resistance, fire immunity, or similar effects. In addition, the phoenixborne can communicate telepathically with any nonavian creature within 60 feet.

Playing a Phoenixborne
Phoenixborne are unique in their abilities. Their power over life coupled with strong healing and close-range fire abilities make them excellent frontline combatants, and they can contribute outside of fights with scouting abilities that scale into high levels.

Combat: Phoenixborne have great sustain in and out of combat. Revival is a potent ability that lets them take a lot of punishment without breaking down, and their constant ability to remove negative conditions allows them to remain threatening against almost every kind of foe. When near allies, the phoenixborne are able to provide strong support abilities but might accidentally light their friends on fire.
Advancement: Phoenixborne core themes encourage a lead-from-the-front style of combat which synergizes with most other tactics. Phoenixborne can focus on dealing damage, tanking, or support their allies. Advancement in any normal melee combatant path is fairly optimal.
Resources: The phoenixborne class is relatively easy to enter for almost anyone, which frees up resources that characters would otherwise be spending on entry requirements. Taking combat feat chains or dipping into initiating classes is common for phoenixborne, and many continue to cultivate what they learned before they took their first phoenixborne level.

Phoenixborne in the World
"We swear our every life to defend this ground, that Aquin may rise from her sleep again." ~ Oath of the Guardians of Aquin

Becoming a phoenixborne is no easy task, so those that take up the mantle tend to be in very unique situations. Phoenixborne culture tends to focus around fire and birds, which makes them easy to identify to anyone who knows what to look for.
Daily Life: Phoenixborne who come into their powers by a blessing tend to have duties, which may include hunting those who have killed phoenixes. Phoenixborne with their own agenda usually come about it by eating a phoenix, and they spend a lot of their lives running or hiding from those that seek to punish them.
Notables: Wolfram Ashborn was once a treasure hunter of great renown, but he was cursed with a persistent form of mummy rot that would return day after day despite the efforts of his best healers. He hunted down the phoenix Benu out of desperation and, by a stroke of luck, managed to cut its flesh and escape. From then on, he has spent his life in fear of Benu's servants, and has made deals with efreeti in order to ensure his safety.
Organizations: The Guardians of Aquin are an ancient order of phoenixborne who have pledged their life to protecting Aquin, a phoenix who was forced into a magically-induced state of hibernation by the Demon Lord Fraz-Urb'luu. It is said that one day she will awake to bring justice to Fraz-Urb'luu, and the Guardians keep her safe from attack until she is strong enough to awake.

NPC Reactions
Phoenixborne tend not to be recognized day-to-day unless they elect to use their powers. Even then, most tend to be incorrectly identified as phoenixes marauding in mortal form. Reactions to phoenixborne is almost always positive, since NPCs are unfamiliar with the darker methods of ascension. That said, no one tends to look well upon their stuff getting burned, so phoenixborne that are reckless with their powers will be quickly asked to leave.

Phoeixborne in the Game
Phoenixborne are tied to the unique mechanic of returning to life, so they play very dangerously close to the precipice of death in fights and benefit from strong healing outside of it. Games in which the importance of death is emphasized or those where healing is supposed to be in low demand may not be suited to the existence of the phoenixborne.
Adaptation: Though the phoenixborne class has many abilities that evoke the powers of the phoenix, they can be easily associated with any creature that undergoes rebirth. The Tarrasque or some powerful outsider could instead be used as the patron creature for this class.
Encounters: Phoenixes of great renown tend to have phoenixborne organizations dedicated to them. Simply seeking out the phoenix in question will likely get the PCs to run into a few phoenixborne. Otherwise, the rare solitary phoenixborne on the run can be found in almost any corner of the world.

Sample Encounter
Wolfram Ashborn finds the PCs and suspects (potentially correctly) that they are associated with the phoenix Benu. He approaches them in plain day, accusing them of trying to hunt him down. If the PCs cannot successfully reason with him, he attacks in the hopes of killing them before they report back to Benu.
EL 9: Wolfram Ashborn, in the company of two Rasts who serve him under orders of their efreeti lords.

Wolfram Ashborn
Neutral Evil Male Half-Orc, Fighter (Thug, Sneak Attack) 3 / Phoenixborne 4
Init +1, Senses: Listen +8, Spot + 8
Languages Common, Orc
------------------------------------------------
AC 19, touch 11, flat-footed 18 (+1 Dex, +5 Armor, +3 Shield)
hp 57 (7 HD)
Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +3
------------------------------------------------
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee +1 longsword +11/+6 (1d8+5 / 19-20)
Ranged Masterwork composite longbow +8/+3 (1d8 / x3)
Base Atk +6/+1, Grp +11
Atk Options Burning guardian, dodge, sacrificial burn, spring attack, sneak attack +2d6
Combat Gear +1 heavy steel shield. +1 chain vest
Supernatural Abilities Sacrificial burn, revival
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str 18, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 6
SQ Phoenix magic (fear, paralysis, curses), fire resistance 14, fast healing 1 (burning vigor)
Feats Dodge, mobility, spring attack
Skills Intimidate +8, Spot +8, Listen +8
Possessions ring of sustenance, 30 gp of adventuring supplies, 35 gp

[spikeof2010]

Aberrant Regenerator

http://th04.deviantart.net/fs7/PRE/i/2005/240/f/b/Aberration_by_DreamsLayers.jpg
source (http://www.deviantart.com/art/Aberration-22289535)

Cutting into me will only make your job even harder.
Some people are okay with having their heads lopped off and having a cleric simply resurrect them. The Aberrant Regenerator thinks differently. They develop a specialized body regeneration technique that let's them scoff off a wound in the midst of battle.

BECOMING AN Aberrant Re
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
:
:
:
:
:

Class Skills
The Class Name's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are....
Skills Points at Each Level: x + int

Hit Dice: dx

{table=head]Level|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Special

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+x|
+x|
+x|
+x|Class Ability

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+x|Class Ability

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+x|
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+x|Class Ability

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+x|Class Ability

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+x|
+x|
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+x|Class Ability

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9th|
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+x|
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10th|
+x|
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+x|
+x|Class Ability[/table]

Weapon Proficiencies: A place to put the different proficiencies.
Put all the different class abilities in here!

PLAYING A CLASS NAME
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

CLASS NAME IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

CLASS NAME IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.


Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
------------------------------------------------
AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
------------------------------------------------
Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

[Milo v3]

Binder of the Inner Circle
Within my lungs is air, within by bones is earth, within my heart is fire, within my mind is water. I am immortal and one with the elements.

The creation process of a golem requires infusing a ready vessel with the essence of a bound outsider. Normally this vessel is a statue of stone, clay, or some other material, but one of the lesser used golems is crafted from flesh stitched together into a monstrous frame. Based on this some mages have researched methods to bind outsiders into their own flesh, allowing themselves to gain immortal bodies animated by planar means.

BECOMING A BINDER OF THE INNER CIRCLE
How you would normally become a member of this prestige class.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Feats: Craft Construct.
Skills: Craft (Leather) 6 ranks or Heal 6 ranks.
Spells: Able to cast Animate Dead, Bull's Strength, Lesser Planar Binding, and at least one of the Magic Circle spells.
Type: You must be a living creature to take your first level of Binder of the Inner Circle, but you must be a construct to take any levels after the first. If you are a living construct, you do not have to die to gain the benefits from this prestige class (see circle tattoos).
Special: Must be able to speak an extraplanar language (Abyssal, aquan, auran, celestial, ignan, infernal, or terran).

Class Skills
The Binder of the Inner Circle's class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Craft (Leather)(Int), Heal (Wis), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (Arcana)(Int), Knowledge (Planes)(Int), and Linguistics (Int).
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + int

Hit Dice: d10



Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special
Spellcasting


1st

+1

+0

+0

+2
Circle Tattoos, Immunity to Magic
+1



2nd

+2

+0

+0

+3
Bonded Spells, Tattooed Fists
+1



3rd

+3

+1

+1

+3
Animate Tattoos 1/Day, Ascend Binding
+1



4th

+4

+1

+1

+4
Animate Tattoos 2/Day, Sealed Boons
+1



5th

+5

+1

+1

+4
Animate Tattoos 3/Day
+1



Weapon Proficiencies: Binders of the Inner Circle do not gain any additional weapon or armour proficiency.

Spellcasting: When a new binder of the inner circle level is gained, the character gains new spells per day as if he had also gained a level in a spellcasting class he belonged to before adding the prestige class. He does not, however, gain other benefits a character of that class would have gained, except for additional spells per day, spells known (if he is a spontaneous spellcaster), and an increased effective level of spellcasting. If a character had more than one spellcasting class before becoming a binder of the inner circle, he must decide to which class he adds the new level for purposes of determining spells per day.

Circle Tattoos (Su): To bind an outsider, one must bring a magic circle into existence that is focused inward, but binders of the inner circle have redefined what inward may mean. A Binder of the Inner Circle uses his knowledge of magic circle and planar binding to cover his body with tattoos known as circle tattoos. When you gain your circle tattoos you must select an outsider you share a language with, up to 6 HD. This outsider is sealed within your flesh, bound by the tattoos, remaining dormant until you die (unless you're a living construct, where the result happens instantly rather than waiting for you to die).

Once you die the outsider's energies run through your body and cling to your soul, causing your body to instantly be animated by the planar energy. This causes several changes:

Your type to change to Construct if it wasn't already.
You gain one of the subtypes the outsider possessed, but it must be an alignment or elemental subtype (though not The Elemental subtype).
You treat the constitution score of your selected outsider as your own score, for the purpose of determining how many hit points you possess. This does not give you a constitution score for any other purpose.
If you are destroyed, the outsider is released causing you to lose your benefits from this prestige class's features until you are resurrected and spend an hour to bind a new appropriate outsider into your circle tattoos. This doesn't cause you to lose skills, hit dice, base attack bonus, spellcasting progression or saves.


Finally, your tattoos count as an intelligent magic armour with the following statistics:
Category: Light Armour.
Armour Bonus: +0
Enhancement Bonus: +1 per level of Binder of the Inner Circle.
Maximum Dex Bonus: -
Armor Check Penalty: 0.
Arcane Spellcasting Proficiency: 0% normally, 5% when the outsider is in an overtly emotional state.
Speed (30 ft): 30 ft.
Weight: 0 lb., 1 if outsider has the Earth subtype.
Mental Ability Scores: Equal to Outsider's.
Communication: Empathy, and Telepathy (with Binder of the Inner Circle).
Capabilities: You are not fatigued for sleeping in this armour, and placing further magical qualities on this armour through Craft Magic Arms and Armour, Craft Wondrous Item, or similar feats has it's creation cost reduced by 10% per Binder of the Inner Circle level if the effect to be bestowed is fitting for the outsider.
Senses: As possessors senses.
Ego Score: Equal to outsider's will save.

Immunity to Magic (Ex): For every spell level you can cast, select two spells of that level that allow spell resistance, you gain immunity to those spells. These spells must be fitting for the outsider.

Bonded Spells (Su): Any spell a second level Binder of the Inner Circle casts that shares a subtype with your bound outsider gains a +1 bonus to caster level.

Tattooed Fists (Su): After reaching second level, the binder of the inner circle's unarmed strike and natural weapons count as magic weapons, with an enchantment bonus equal to your class level, and the ability to be enchanted further by the Craft Magic Arms and Armour feat. The Craft Magic Arms and Armour feat can only apply enchantments that would be fitting for your bound outsider, and each natural weapon must be enchanted individually.

Animate Tattoos (Su): As a full-round action, you can have some of your circle tattoo crawl from your body and become a fabrication of the outsider you bound into them. This functions as a summoning effect that lasts for 1d4 minutes. The resultant creature is the same as your bound outsider. At first this can be used once per day, but you gain additional uses as you increase in level.

Ascend Binding: At third level, the outsider you have bound advances in hit dice until it has Hit Dice equal to 6 + your class level. Aside from creatures differentiated by size (such as air elementals), this cannot turn your outsider into a different form of outsider.

Sealed Boons (Su): Upon reaching fourth level, the binder of the inner circle gain a benefit based on the subtype he selected from Circle Tattoos.

Air: You gain a fly speed equal to that of your bound outsider, up to double your base land speed, with good maneuverability.
Chaos:
Earth:
Evil:
Fire:
Good:
Law:
Water: You gain a swim speed equal to that of your bound outsider, and gain the amphibious special quality.


PLAYING A BINDER OF THE INNER CIRCLE
Brief description on how to play the class you are designing.
Combat: Here's a section where you will describe common combat methods for your class. Remember to include information on how your class will use his powers in combat.
Advancement: This is a section on different options and paths that the class can go down when they advance in power.
Resources: What resources might a member of this PrC be able to draw on..

BINDERS OF THE INNER CIRCLE IN THE WORLD
A quote of somebody else talking about your class!

A brief description of how your class is persevered in the world and how he interacts with the world.
Daily Life: Some general information about the typical day in the life of your class.
Notables: Make up some cool information about notable figures in the history of your class. It's best to give a little information from one of the good alignment and evil alignment (unless it's a good or evil only class).
Organizations: Some information about organizations dedicated to the practice of your class and other organizations which members of your class will be attracted towards.

NPC Reaction
This is an in detail description of how NPC's would perceive your class and the immediate generalization that people would give of your class.

BINDERS OF THE INNER CIRCLE IN THE GAME
This is a good place to provide a quick note on how your class will effect game play statistically.
Adaptation: This is a place where you put in detail how people can adapt your class into their campaign setting.
Encounters: This is a place to describe what sort of encounters PC's will have with NPC versions of your class.

Sample Encounter
Give an example of how one might encounter a member of this PrC.
EL x: Give the encounter level and description of a sample member of this class and a stat block for him/her.

Name
alignment/Gender/Race/Levels
Init +0, Senses: Listen +, Spot +,
Languages
------------------------------------------------
AC , touch , flat-footed ()
hp ( HD)
Fort +, Ref +, Will +
------------------------------------------------
Speed ft. ( squares)
Melee
Base Atk +, Grp +
Atk Options
Combat Gear
Spells Prepared
Supernatural Abilities
-----------------------------------------------
Abilities Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha
SQ
Feats
Skills
Possessions

[Glimbur]

Karmic Accelerator

“I see that you still have some developing to do.” Imogene Brightsword, upon finding a cult.

The Karmic Accelerator knows that all souls will, with enough time to reflect, tend toward Good. Some souls need a jump start. That’s where the Accelerator comes in: souls which are freed from bodies are more able to reflect on past misdeeds.

Becoming a Karmic Accelerator
Most Karmic Accelerators start as Paladins who make a connection with the idea of reincarnation as a cleansing cycle. Other professions can also make use of the powers of rebirth, provided they are committed to Good.

Entry Requirements
Special: Either +10 BAB or 13 ranks Knowledge (Religion)
Alignment: Any Good
Special: Must have either been reincarnated or considered the cycle of death and rebirth for a solid week of mediation

Class Skills: The Karmic Accelerator’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Concentration (Con), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Heal (Wis), Knowledge (nobility and royalty) (Int), Knowledge (religion) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride(Dex), and Sense Motive (Wis).
Skill points per level: 2+Int mod

Hit Die: d10

LevelBABFortRefWillSpecial
1st+1+2+0+2Rebirth Strike, Lay on Hands
2nd+2+3+0+3Remove Disease +1/week, Undead Bane
3rd+3+3+1+3Cosmic Knowledge (1 feat), Rebirth Smite
4th+4+4+1+4Undead Unraveler, Karmic Link
5th+5+4+1+4Remove Disease +2/week, Rebirth Feedback
6th+6+5+2+5Rebirth Resurgence
7th+7+5+2+5Cosmic Knowledge (2 feats), Undead Destroyer
8th+8+6+2+6Remove Disease +3/week, Purity of New Birth
9th+9+6+3+6Karmic Eavesdropping
10th+10+7+3+7Karmic Ascendance


Weapon Proficiencies: A Karmic Accelerator gains no additional weapon or armor proficiencies.

Special: The Karmic Accelerator may take additional levels in Paladin, as an exception to the general rule for multiclass paladins.

Rebirth Strike (Su): The signature ability of the Karmic Accelerator is their ability to mark Evil souls for rapid processing and reincarnation, with some chance for introspection and repentance. As a free action, the Karmic Accelerator may activate her Rebirth Strike for one round. Any Evil creature (except Outsiders) she deals weapon damage to with Rebirth Strike active is marked for rebirth. If that creature dies within one minute of being marked, its soul spends one hour contemplating its deeds and then is reincarnated (as the spell) 1d100 miles away in a random direction, in a location which is not immediately deadly. NPC's have a % chance to become Good equal to the Karmic Accelerator’s class level, and twice that chance to become Neutral. t
The DM is empowered to decides whether any particular creature turns Good or Neutral, the die roll is only a suggestion. The creature cannot be raised from the dead while it is contemplating its deeds, and Rebirth Strike occurs before and prevents, for example, a Contingent Revivify.
There are some instances in which Rebirth Strike does not work: if a soul has been specifically promised/sold (typically to a devil) then Rebirth Strike is ineffective (though the Karmic Accelerator’s other class features still trigger, if applicable). Liches do not ‘die’ when their bodies are destroyed, so unless the phylactery has already been destroyed they are also not affected by Karmic Strike (though you are allowed to Rebirth Strike a phylactery, which only helps if the body is currently destroyed).
A Karmic Accelerator gains a number of Rebirth Strikes per day equal to the sum of her class level and Charisma modifier.

Lay on Hands (Su): The Karmic Accelerator’s connection to life and rebirth allows her to continue and improve her ability to heal with a touch. Levels in Karmic Accelerator stack with levels in Paladin for Lay on Hands progression; in addition a Karmic Accelerator may use Lay on Hands on herself as a swift action.

Remove Disease (Sp): As the spell. Additional uses per week as described in the table.

Karmic Link (Su): Association with the guilt and sins of the unrighteous dead makes the Karmic Accelerator more able to see them in the living as well. A Karmic Accelerator gains an insight bonus to Sense Motive checks equal to her class level.

Cosmic Knowledge (Ex): The mass of souls waiting for rebirth holds a great deal of knowledge; the Karmic Accelerator can tap into only some of it at a time. The Karmic Accelerator gains bonus feats as indicated on the table. These bonus feats can be exchanged for a different feat after 8 hours of rest. The Karmic Accelerator must continue to qualify for all of her feats and prestige classes after exchanging feats; for example she cannot get rid of Combat Expertise if she has Improved Trip.

Rebirth Smite (Su): The Rebirth Strike is a similar idea to the paladin’s Smite. With some effort, the Karmic Accelerator can make the two nearly identical. When she uses a Rebirth Strike, the Karmic Accelerator now gains her Charisma modifier as an insight bonus to-hit. She also gains her Karmic Accelerator level as a damage bonus on her first successful hit in the round. Finally, Rebirth Strike now counts as a smite for abilities and effects which care about such things (the Awesome Smite feat, for example). All of her Smite Evil uses per day become Rebirth Strike uses instead, and damage which Smite Evil used to do stacks with damage from Rebirth Smite i.e. a Paladin 10/Karmic Accelerator 3 does +13 damage with a Rebirth Smite.

Undead Unraveler (Su): Undead are anathema to the cycle of death and rebirth. Accordingly, the Karmic Accelerator is especially effective against them. While she is using her Rebirth Strike, her weapon is treated as having the Undead Bane (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#bane) special property.

Rebirth Feedback (Su): As the Karmic Accelerator’s connection to death and rebirth deepens, she gains some benefit from the life shared with those she helps. When a creature affected by her Karmic Strike dies, the Karmic Accelerator regains a number of hit points equal to the creature’s hit dice.

Undead Destroyer (Su): In the hands of a veteran Karmic Accelerator, the call of death and rebirth can fully disrupt an undead creature’s existence. While she uses her Karmic Strike ability, any weapon she wields is treated as a Disrupting (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/magicWeapons.htm#disruption) weapon, with the DC equal to 10+class level +Cha mod. This ability functions even if the weapon is not bludgeoning, and it even works on ranged weapons.

Rebirth Resurgence (Su): The burst of life relased when something is sent back into the cycle gives the Karmic Accelerator a burst of energy. When something the Karmic Accelerator has affected with Rebirth Strike dies, she may make a weapon attack as an immediate action at her full BAB. This ability may be used even if she made an additional attack via Haste, Snake’s Swiftness, etc. in her previous round.

Purity of New Birth (Su): The pinnacle of the rejuvenative power released by rebirth is available to only very experienced Karmic Accelerators. When something the Karmic Accelerator has affected with Rebirth Strike dies, she may remove one status effect from herself as an immediate action. This may be done even if she is normally unable to act (stunned, petrified, etc). This does not work to remove death.

Karmic Eavesdropping (Su): One of the greatest and most difficult abilities mastered by the Karmic Accelerator is the ability to join the soul in a review of its sins. The Karmic Accelerator may listen in on the hour of reflection on the past life from anyone affected by Rebirth Strike. The reflection begins immediately after death, and tends to start with the oldest memories. Listening in on this is distracting: she is flat footed while doing so. ‘Listen’ is a misnomer, she also sees visions and experiences other sensory information. She can only listen to one recollection at a time. A will save from the target DC 10+class level + Cha mod (made at its moment of death) prevents the Karmic Accelerator from listening in.

Karmic Ascendance (Ex): As her connection with the cycle of death and rebirth is fully made, the Karmic Accelerator becomes more than human. She gains the outsider type with the [native] subtype (do not change previous racial hit dice) DR 10/Evil, and her Karmic Strike ability is considered always active. She does not take penalties from aging, but still dies when her time is up as normal for her previous race.

Playing a Karmic Accelerator
The Karmic Accelerator is intended to strike down Evil wherever she finds it. This is typically done with either melee or ranged weaponry.
Combat: In general, a Karmic Accelerator should get into the thick of things, like a paladin would. Make sure to mark Evil creatures for reincarnation, as you get a number of benefits from helping them reflect on past misdeeds via killing them.
Advancement: The class starts at level 10 and is ten levels long; so advancement will be Epic. I suggest warblade because warblade, or you can do something crazy like Incarnate because BAB doesn’t matter anymore.
Resources: Similar to a paladin, the Karmic Accelerator can sometimes requisition aid from Good temples and clergy.

Karmic Accelerators in the world
Seemed like a paladin, but she was shouting something about purifying souls as she killed the orc warband. Curious.

Karmic Accelerators are a special nuicanse to Evil overlords because of the potential of turning minions to the Good side.
Daily Life: Adventure. Smite. Sometimes investigate. Then smite more.
Notables: Ferdinad the Lion is rememberd mostly for not only slaying the Dread Wizard of Bald Mountain, but also for bringing him to the side of Good. As a bugbear.
Organizations: Temples of Hieronius are the most likely organization to support Karmic Accelerators, but their philosophy also appeals to a number of elves and so Corelleon and his clergy also assist them.

NPC Reaction
Good and neutral people don’t care about the differences between Karmic Accelerators and Paladins. Evil people will take special pains not to be struck down by one.

Karmic Accelerators in the Game
Forced reincarnation is pretty much the only strange thing this class brings to the table. But it is pretty strange. DM’s should consider whether or not villains can be reformed.
Adaptation: The Karmic Accelerator requires a particular way for the afterlife to work. It would take significant effort if, for example, all Evil souls were automatically eaten by a demon.
Encounters: A troop of soldiers/paladins led by a Karmic Accelerator can lead to some interesting scenes if an Evil PC is marked for reincarnation. It may also cause some resentment.

[Techwarrior]

One week until the deadline is up. Let's keep the entries rolling.

[dragonjek]

PRACTITIONER OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY

Picture (http://authortf.deviantart.com/art/Choji-s-Power-162128888)


“Strike me down, and I will become more powerful than your primitive monkey brain could possibly imagine.”
-Neb Ibonek, Dust Elven Doyen of the Way of the Butterfly


When a caterpillar reaches maturity it encases itself in a chrysalis, and the being it once was dies for the birth of the beautiful butterfly that emerges to breed and lay more eggs. Few creatures more perfectly symbolize the cycle of life, death, and rebirth than lepidopterans; is it any surprise that there exist those who would strive to glean wisdom from its existence? With philosophies and martial traditions born from the observation of nature, it is only natural that the monk eventually turn his gaze to these ephemeral insects.

BECOMING A PRACTITIONER OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY
The Way of the Butterfly is a monastic tradition, a blend of studied observation, introspective philosophy, and gracefully executed physical combat. Few but a monk could successfully merge these so as to become a Practitioner of the Way. A number of Practitioners were once paladins, druids, magi, witches, oracles, rangers, rogues, or wizards before becoming monks. Racially speaking, elves are the most common Practitioners of the common races; however, if one were to compare them by ratio of Practitioners to the total population, the ever-reincarnating samsarans are leagues ahead of other races.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Base Attack Bonus: +5
Skill Ranks: Acrobatics 6 ranks, Knowledge (nature) 3 ranks, Knowledge (religion) 3 ranks
Feats: Ki Throw Advanced Player’s Guide, Dodge

Class Skills
The Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Disguise (Cha), Fly (Dex), Knowledge (nature, religion), Perception (Wis), Perform (Cha), Survival (Wis)
Skills Points at Each Level: 4 + Int

Hit Dice: d8


PRACTITIONER OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Fort Save
Ref Save
Will Save
Special


1st

+0

+1

+1

+1
Gentle Assault, Monastic Progression, Soft Step, Student of Life and Death


2nd

+1

+1

+1

+1
Chrysalis Revival (Caterpillar), Rekindle Vitality


3rd

+2

+2

+2

+2
Cyclic Enlightenment 1d8, Kiss of Death


4th

+3

+2

+2

+2
Alight Upon the Petal, Chrysalis Revival (Pupa), Drift Upon the Currents


5th

+3

+3

+3

+3
Acolyte of Life and Death, Cyclic Enlightenment 2d8, Metamorphic Resurrection, Sacrificial Recompense


6th

+4

+3

+3

+3
Butterflight, Metamorphose & Rebirth


7th

+5

+4

+4

+4
Cyclic Enlightenment 3d8, When Strength is a Weakness


8th

+6

+4

+4

+4
Metamorphose & Rebirth, Sagacious Vision


9th

+6

+5

+5

+5
Chrysalis Revival (Butterfly), Cyclic Enlightenment 4d8


10th

+7

+5

+5

+5
Doyen of Life and Death, Metamorphic Reincarnation



Class Features
All of the following are class features of the Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly.

Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: A Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly gains no new weapon or armor proficiencies.

Monastic Progression: A Practitioner’s class levels stack with any monk levels for the purposes of determining his AC bonus, CMB, fast movement, slow fall, and unarmed strike class features (including determining damage dealt by his unarmed strike attacks). They also stack for determining the size of the Practitioner’s ki pool, but not for the progression of ki strike.

Gentle Assault (Ex) : Soft and floating movements are the emphasis of the martial side of the Way of the Butterfly; one flows through combat, pushed as though a leaf on the wind until he can make his enemy defeat himself. He gains the Vital Strike feat. When a Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly readies an action to attack, it is considered to be a Vital Strike; further, when readying an attack he adds his Wisdom modifier to the attack roll and his class level & the enemy’s Strength bonus to damage.

Charging a Practitioner provokes an attack of opportunity. A Practitioner uses his Dexterity or Wisdom modifier (whichever is greater) for determining CMB, rather than Strength, and his Wisdom modifier in place of his Strength for CMD, if he so wishes.

Soft Steps (Su) : A Practitioner can, as a full-round action, fly up to twice his ground speed with average maneuverability. If he is still airborne at the end of that round, he falls. He gains Nimble Moves as a bonus feat.

Student of Life and Death (Su): The cycle of life is the focus of a Student of the Way of the Butterfly’s studies and meditations. Whenever he is subject to positive or negative energy, he may increase or decrease the damage dealt or healed by 1 per die rolled. He adds his class level as an insight bonus to the Heal skill.

Rekindle Vitality (Su) : A Practitioner can renew someone’s life force with a touch. This heals the target 1d6/class level damage, which is doubled for nonlethal damage. This ability may be used at will, but no one can benefit from this class feature more than once per day. As with all positive energy effects, this damages undead instead of healing them. A Fortitude save (DC 10 + class level + Wis modifier) halves its effects.

When healing, Practitioner can opt to sacrifice his Rekindled Vitality class feature for 24 hours in order to heal double the normal amount, and grant a number of temporary hit points equal to the roll. These temporary hit points last for 2 hours.

Chrysalis Revival (Su) : The greatest art of the Way of the Butterfly is the skill of self-recreation and resurrection. He envelopes himself in an unmoving chrysalis of his size with hit points equal to his max hp, which reduces all damage directed at it by half. Within it his body is partially broken down and reconstructed, making the Practitioner temporarily a being of more than frail flesh. He is unable to take any action while within the chrysalis, with the following exceptions: he may take purely mental actions, and may use Rekindle Vitality and Kiss of Death as ranged touch attacks with a range of 30 ft.

When this ability is in its Caterpillar stage, the Practitioner emerges on the next round with his hit points raised to half his maximum (if his hp was already higher than this, there is no change). A Practitioner may instead decided to stay in the chrysalis for 3 rounds, in which case he emerges with his hp fully restored. The chrysalis remains then slowly fade into unshaped spiritual energy and disappear.

Upon reaching the Pupa stage, his chrysalis is able to take apart and reconstitute his body to a greater extent. Select one of the following for each class level he possesses; bleed, blinded, deafened, exhausted, fatigued, poison, disease, sickened, ability damage. When in his chrysalis, those conditions are removed from him (save for ability damage; he instead heals 1d6 points of ability, to be distributed amongst his damaged scores as he desires). For the longer use of Chrysalis Revival, he also recovers 1 point of level drain and another 1d6 points of ability damage.

When the Practitioner grows to a level to use the Butterfly Chrysalis Revival, using this ability restores him to full health and removes any negative status conditions affecting him (save for curses, ability drain, and negative levels) and heals 2d6 points of ability damage (rather than fully restoring damaged ability scores)—he is now completely remade each time he uses the chrysalis, birthed again as a new being. When spending 3 rounds in the chrysalis, he heals all ability damage, ability drain, and energy drain he may be suffering from.

When subject to nausea, stun, panic, paralysis, or petrification, on his next round a Practitioner capable of this level of rebirth instinctively spends 3 points to activate Chrysalis Revival, lasting for 3 rounds or until the status effect ends naturally, whichever is shorter. At this final stage, a Practitioner’s True Name changes every time he uses Chrysalis Revival. When in the chrysalis, a Practitioner can elect to remove any Transmutation effects on his person (so long as he knows they exist)

Using this ability is a full-round action that costs 2 ki points; staying in the chrysalis for longer expends another ki point. While the chrysalis completes healing within only a few rounds, a Practitioner may opt not to leave it. He gains no benefits for doing so.

Kiss of Death (Su): Using the power of death, the Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly tears at the life of others.. This inflicts 1d6/class level in negative energy damage. This ability may be used at will, but no one can be targeted by this class feature more than once per day. As with all negative energy effects, this heals undead instead of damaging them. A Fortitude save halves its effects.

When using, Practitioner can opt to sacrifice his Kiss of Death class feature for 24 hours in order to replace the damage with energy drain, draining one level per 2 class levels. A successful Fortitude save negates this effect, instead causing it to deal negative energy damage as normal (although the subject is considered to have made his saving throw against that as well).

Cyclic Enlightenment (Su): Eternally do life and death chase one another, an ouroboros encompassing all planes and all worlds—perhaps the one true constant, as even reality itself will one day die. On the round after successfully killing a living enemy a Practitioner can spend an immediate action to heal one person within 30 ft. an amount of damage as shown on the table. On the round following a Practitioner successfully healing someone he adds the dice shown on the table to any damage rolls against living creatures made in the following round. If he uses this ability in conjunction with Rekindle Vitality or Kiss of Death, double the result of these additional dice.

Alight Upon the Petal (Su): With careful and delicate movements does a Practitioner imitate the motions of the butterfly, and in the doing they discover the secret to weightlessness. A Practitioner may opt to weigh close to nothing. This allows them to walk over water and other liquid surfaces, and walk atop grass or snow without leaving tracks.. They may up to triple the distance of any Acrobatics check they make, and receive a +4 circumstance bonus to Climb checks. Finally, they receive the Acrobatic Steps, if they do not already possess it (if they have it already, they select another movement-based feat that they qualify as a bonus feat).

Drift Upon the Currents (Ex): A butterfly is no albatross to fly endlessly upon powerful wings. Light and delicate, these insects dance from current to current to take the most advantageous winds. Whenever the Practitioner makes an attack of opportunity he may opt to replace his attack with a trip attempt.

Sacrificial Recompense (Su): Brightly colored butterflies oft possess poison; some of their number sacrifice their lives to be devoured by predators, who swiftly learn that eating butterflies is a terrible idea. When dealt damage, a Practitioner may expend 1 ki point to explosively expend his life force to deal damage of 1d6/class level to all within 20 ft., which can be halved with a successful Reflex save. He also forces all within to make a Fortitude save against contracting the lepidoptera genocide poison. In so doing, the Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly dies. However, if he expends another ki point he can activate Metamorphic Resurrection without paying the full cost for the ability.
Lepidoptera Genocide (Ex) Contact; save Fort DC 10 + class level + Wisdom modifier, frequency 1/round for 6 rounds, effect 1d3 Str, cure 3 consecutive saves.

Metamorphic Resurrection (Su): Death may follow life, but it is the step directly before birth. When a Practitioner dies and has at least 3 points in his ki pool, he may expend those 3 points to activate Chrysalis Revival, which heals his death in addition to its normal effects. Returning to life in this manner forces a -1 penalty on skill checks, attack and damage rolls, and Will saves until he gets 8 hours of rest. In case of repeated deaths, this penalty stacks until it is removed.

Acolyte of Life and Death (Su): Through deep understanding of the cycle of reincarnation and by mimicking the rebirth of the caterpillar into butterfly, an Acolyte of the Way of the Butterfly gains great power over life and death. He becomes immune to death effects and is healed by both positive and negative energy.

The Acolyte of the Way of the Butterfly can also effect the movement of life and death in a 30 ft. area surrounding him. He is automatically aware of any use of positive or negative energy in this range, and can influence it as it is being used; he can add his Cyclic Enlightenment bonus dice the effect as an immediate action. He can instead force a subject to make a saving throw against an effect that one can normally decide not to save against (such as Cure Light Wounds).

He can also perform such minor tasks as killing ordinary plants within this range, giving them life again, causing children to be stillborn, ensuring their health, preventing the animation of the dead when it occurs within the effect’s radius, or making an ordinary plant grow a month’s time in one minute. If there is anyone dying within this range he may spend an immediate action to either stabilize them or to inflict his class level in damage.

Butterflight (Ex): In his studies and meditations, the Practitioner learns the workings of the butterfly’s body, and when they next recreate themselves with Chrysalis Revival they come out with new additions. A Practitioner of 6th level gains a set of butterfly wings colored as suits his personality; he gains a fly speed equal to his ground speed with good maneuverability. However, as his flight leaves behind small scales from his wingbeats, it is possible to track a flying Practitioner overland (DC 33).

You may spend a swift action to fling these scales into the air around you, inflicting a -1 penalty to attack rolls and AC to adjacent enemies for 1 round. If you spend a point from your ki pool and use this ability as a standard action, you also deal your unarmed strike damage to these unfortunates.

Metamorphose & Rebirth: A caterpillar completely remakes itself in its transformation into a butterfly; so too can a Practitioner shape themselves into a new mold when they are reborn. When using Chrysalis Revival he may select one of the following abilities; when he emerges, he retains this abilities for 1 round per class level, although he may spend a ki point to make them last 24 hours, instead. He may have only one of these abilities at a time until he reaches 8th level, at which he can maintain two at once.

Antenna Detector (Ex): Many underestimate the importance of antennae to insects, but a Practitioner’s observations of the butterfly life cycle has shown them the true extent of these sensory organs. The Practitioner gains blindsense with a range of 30 ft. and the scent ability; further, he gains the benefits of the Improved Uncanny Dodge class feature.
Masque Spots (Su): Some butterflies without any poison share the appearance of those who do in order to mimic the protection from predators those butterflies benefit from. When leaving the chrysalis he may alter his appearance as though using Alter Self; unlike other uses of this ability, spending a ki point on Masque Spots only increases the duration to 10 minutes/class level.
Perfected Wings (Ex): The wings of Butterflight are imperfect and uncompleted, lesser reflections of the species’ wings. The Practitioner flies at double his land speed and his maneuverability increases to perfect. He also gains the benefits of the Flyby Attack, Hover, or Wingover feat, chosen when transforming. His irritating scales now inflict a –(1d4+1) penalty instead of a flat -1 and affect all within 10 ft of you; they also deal damage equal to your Wisdom modifier.
Puparium Raiment (Ex): Rather than discarding the chrysalis, the remnants of his pupation form an armor shell for the Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly. This armor weighs only five pounds and does not reduce speed, arcane spell failure, skill checks, and has a maximum Dex bonus of +10. It grants a +4 bonus to AC from natural armor, stacking with any natural armor he may already possess. Unlike most NA, this armor applies its protection against touch attacks and incorporeal/nonphysical effects such as brilliant energy weapons.
Supernal Camouflage (Su): Many lepidopterans possess camouflage; not all possess poison, and it can be safer to be unseen than to be avoided. A Practitioner may take a standard action each round to change his coloration to match his environment, effectively becoming invisible until the beginning of your next round, where he can take another standard action to stay invisible if he so wishes.
Tarsal Claws (Ex): While butterflies use their claws to cling to plants, those a Practitioner can give himself is rather more versatile. The Practitioner gains the benefits of the Improved Ki Throw Advanced Player’s Guide feat; if he already possess it, he gains the benefits of the Enhanced Ki Throw Dragon Empires Primer feat; if he already possess that, then when using the feat he can place his enemy in any square within double the range he threatens. Further, he may use the reposition maneuver as a swift action. Finally, he is capable of detecting ingested poisons by touching them with his claws, which are capable of taste.
Toxic Body (Ex): The Practitioner of the Way has worked poison into his body just as it saturates some lepidopterans. The Practitioner produces lepipoptera genocide all over his skin, a contact poison; he has no control over it, so if he attempts to heal via Rekindle Vitality while using this he risks poisoning an ally. Whenever he is dealt damage, the inflictor must make a Reflex save or be forced to make a Fortitude save against the poison flowing from the wound. When he uses Sacrificial Recompense, enemies adjacent to him take a -2 penalty to their Fortitude saves and the poison deals +1 Str damage each time they fail their save.

When Strength is a Weakness (Ex): A brute could never catch a butterfly; ham-fisted hands are not delicate enough, thick limbs not agile enough. Strength does not capture a butterfly. When a Practitioner makes an unarmed strike against an enemy, they may add that enemy’s Strength modifier, if positive, to their damage roll.

Sagacious Vision (Ex, Su): The Practitioner’s eyes become compound, their vision now formed from thousands of composite images merged together; however, a number of these eyes see not the physical world but the overlay of death or life layered atop it. The Practitioner gains low-light vision and darkvision to a range of 60 ft., and receives a +4 bonus to sight-based Perception checks and to Heal checks.

He can tell by sight how long someone has been dead, and if someone he sees is going to die of natural causes within the next 12 hours he is aware of it. When using Survival to track someone who has killed within the last 12 hours he gains a +4 competence bonus by following the trail of death. He can tell if someone is with child or not, and if labor will begin within the next 12 hours he is aware of it. He gains a +4 bonus to Perception checks to find an invisible undead or living being, and may consider it a sight-based Perception check rather than an attempt to hear them. Upon successfully locating an invisible target, they do not take penalties when attacking it.

Metamorphic Reincarnation (Su): Death is only the beginning of a Practitioner’s life. When he uses Chrysalis Revival, his age is reset to a point in his adulthood, effectively preventing him from aging or dying of old age. This is largely identical to Metamorphic Resurrection, but it only costs 1 ki point to activate, and he reduces the three-round time of use of Chrysalis Revival to requiring only 2 rounds. When coming out of the chrysalis, the Practitioner gains either a +4 bonus to one ability score or a +2 bonus to two ability scores; whenever he uses Chrysalis Revival he may rearrange this. Once per week, a Practitioner can change his race through Chrysalis Revival to a race of his choosing, as per the spell Reincarnation. When using Chrysalis Revival, he can regrow lost limbs.

Doyen of Life and Death (Su, Sp): Few understand more about the cycle of birth and death and rebirth than a Doyen of the Way of the Butterfly. Once per day he may use True Resurrection as a spell-like ability cast as a caster of his character level; doing so, however, inflicts 2 points of Constitution damage which cannot be healed until 24 hours pass. He may also, once per day, touch a creature and kill them. They must make a Will save or die; on a success, they suffer as though they were touched by both version of the Kiss of Death (experiencing both negative energy damage and energy drain); however, it does not count as a use of that ability for determining if the target can or cannot be affected by it. Doing so has no cost, as destruction has always been an easier act than has creation.


PLAYING A PRACTITIONER OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY
With their healing abilities, a Practitioner is well suited to melee combat against does that would normally be held back with by the party tank; with their mobility they are also suited to scouting.
Combat: A Practitioner contributes to a fight by leaping into the middle of it. Their movement abilities allow them to place themselves in advantageous positions, while their Chrysalis Revival ensures that they can survive attacks that would send another melee combatant scurrying to the cleric. That would be unnecessary, as Kindle Vitality serves as a useful pick-me-up to a nearby companion. With Cyclic Enlightenment they can turn their every healing attempt into improved combat ability, and with success in battle obtain increased healing. Sacrificial Recompense allows them to do large damage in an area, but doing so puts their allies at risk.
Advancement: A Practitioner is focused upon melee combat, mobility, and controlling his enemy’s movements. Increasing his attack, improving his CMB, and providing more or safer movement options is the best way to better this class. Increasing defense is not necessary, but spending less time in the chrysalis will make combat shorter and easier.
Resources:. Since the monk’s bonus feats make satisfying the PrC’s requirement easier, a Practitioner have a larger number of pickable feats than someone joining a PrC normally has.

PRACTITIONERS OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY IN THE WORLD
“Butterflies, they says! I laughed at da pansy and went lookin’ for that monk fella’ anyways. Theyz suppost t’be tuff, yah? At furst he waz all quiet-like, but I ‘ventually managed ta get ‘im to fight me when I whakk’d his poopil dead.
Den I stopped laughin’. Gawd-damn butterflies...”
-Bolg the Articulate, armless ogre barbarian

The Way of the Butterfly first began in those ages past when elvenkind ruled much of the earth. As a race with long lives and few children, the concepts of life and death held a special significance—one which eventually lead to the first Practitioner. Since then the concept has spread, although many find themselves on the Way without having heard of it before; it is only natural for a warrior-philosopher to learn from a creature of such significance in metaphor as the butterfly.
Daily Life: Meditation is a key point in the day of a Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly; to clear the mind of distractions and contemplate the cyclic nature of the world and their place in it. Practicing forms and observing nature occupy much of the time of the Practitioner residing in a monastery—for those who live elsewhere, the rest of their day is occupied with practical matters of survival. Common amongst many Practitioners is the act of meditating within the chrysalis, or even sleeping within it. The destruction and recreation of the body is a spiritual experience that Practitioners believe holds the secret to enlightenment.
Taking this concept to its logical extreme, an entire monastery once obtained Rings of Sustenance and wrapped themselves in chrysalis with no intent of ever emerging; centuries later, they were eventually found and pried open. After centuries of being created and destroyed, what emerged could no longer be called human.
Notables: Sharego Damask is renowned for his defeat of the great wyrm Rastinterian during his ravages of the coastal cities, his harrying combat slowly wearing the dragon down. The half-elf Sebastiam is infamous for an entirely different reason; upon mastering combat he returned to his home of Treesail to massacre all the elves who lived there and once made his life hell, returning from death every time they managed to strike him down.
Organizations: The Monastery of the Way it the closest thing Practitioners have to an organization of their own. The Monastery (actually a collection of 12 related ones) is host to a number of ancient monk traditions, seeking to educate other in its secrets and ensure that the Ways do not die out. Apart from this, some temples are devoted to this path and teach it to their initiates, although none are of any significant size.

NPC Reaction
To most people a Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly is no different from any other animal-themed monk—a guy who punches people in a way different from how others punch. To those more studied in the ways of the discipline of monks or the powers of positive and negative energy, a Practitioner is seen as have achieved an exemplary power through their meditations and are often revered, to some extent.

PRACTITIONERS OF THE WAY OF THE BUTTERFLY IN THE GAME
A Practitioner has achieved something very close to immortality; a character so resistant to death can expect to be thrown into situations the party would normally try to avoid.
Adaptation: There are a number of symbols representing the duality of life and death; altering around the non-healing abilities and making minor changes to those healing powers can bring good a working conversion. The acacia, lotus, black rose, yew tree, and cherry blossoms are all plants with associations with both life and death, which a DM could give plant-based abilities. The snake and the phoenix are likewise strongly associated with life and rebirth.
Encounters: A party might seek out a reclusive Practitioner to learn about what they might do to obtain resurrection magic. A group of Practitioners might be hunting undead in a plagued area, and due to various reasons may assume the party is a group of zombies. A Practitioner who wants a better understanding of death has become a serial killer.

Sample Encounter
Geneve has been search for rare plants for some time, hoping to learn how to brew the elixir of immortality. For unrelated reasons this plant is in the possession of the party; should they not give it up, she will leave before attacking from ambush.
EL 12: Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly with activated Figurines of Wondrous Power (marble elephant, golden lions) mounted atop a dire tiger. The stats below assume that she has prepared herself and her mount with her potions; if she has not, she possesses 2 more potions of Bull’s Strength, Greater Magic Fang, and Barkskin, 1 potion of Bear’s Endurance, has a Str of 10, a Constitution of 12, 67 hp, no +3 enhancement modifier to her unarmed attacks, and no +3 bonus to natural armor. When she needs to use Chrysalis Revival, she will activate the Sanctuary spell contained in her ioun stone.

Geneve
Samsaran Fighter 2/Monk 4/Practitioner of the Way of the Butterfly 5
LN Medium Humanoid (Samsaran)
Init: +3, Senses: Perception +13, Low-Light Vision
Languages: Common, Samsaran, Necril, Elven
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AC: 28, touch 20, flat-footed 25 (+3 natural armor, +5 armor, +2 monk, +5 Wis, +3 Dex)
hp: 100 (2d10 +4d8 +5d8 +33 +11)
Fort: +13, Ref: +10, Will: +12
(+2 racial bonus to saving throws against death effects, negative energy effects, Fortitude saves made to remove negative levels, Constitution checks made to stabilize. Get +2 vs Enchantment spells and effects)
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Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Melee: Unarmed Strike +14/+9 1d10+5 (20/x2)
OR Flurry of Blows – Unarmed Strike +12/+12/+7 1d10+5 (20/x2)
OR Vital Strike – Unarmed Strike +14 2d10+5 (20/x2)
OR Gentle Assault – Unarmed Strike +19 2d10+10+(enemy’s Str bonus) (20/x2)
OR Kiss of Death – Melee Touch +13 5d6 negative energy
Ranged: Alchemist’s fire +11 (1d6 fire, 1d6 following round, 1 splash damage), 10 ft.
or Acid +11 (1d6 acid, 1 splash damage), 10 ft.
Base Atk: +8/+3 CMB: +14 (+16 on bull rushes and trips) CMD: +20 (+22 against bull rushes and trips)
Atk Options: Gentle Assault, Kiss of Death, Drift Upon the Currents, Cyclic Enlightenment 2d8, Sacrificial Recompense
Combat Gear: Ring of the Savage Beast, cracked Ioun Stone (Vibrant Purple Prism) (Sanctuary), Bracers of Armor (she has had them cursed; function as +5 Bracers of Armor, but if the wielder is killed they become Bracers of Defenselessness. If she finds them in her next life, the curse is suppressed until she dies again)
Supernatural Abilities: Soft Step, Student of Life and Death, Rekindle Vitality, Samsaran Magic (unusable), Cyclic Enlightenment 2d6, Alight Upon the Petal, Chrysalis Revival (Pupa), Acolyte of Life and Death, Metamorphic Resurrection, Ki Pool 10, Ki Strike (magic)
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Abilities: Str 14, Dex 16, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 20, Cha 8
SQ: Lifebound, Shards of the Past (Ride, Handle Animal), Monastic Progression, Slow Fall 40 ft., Bonus Feats, Fast Movement, Evasion, Still Mind
Feats: Acrobatic Steps, Dodge, Enhanced Ki Throw, Improved Bull Rush, Improved Ki Throw, Improved Trip, Ki Throw, Mounted Combat, Mounted Skirmish, Nimble Moves, Stunning Fist, Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon Finesse (Unarmed Strike)
Skills: Acrobatics +13 (+25 when jumping), Craft (Alchemy), Craft (Alchemy) +13, Handle Animal +6, Heal +20, Knowledge (Arcana) +8, Knowledge (Nature) +8, Knowledge (Religion) +7, Perception +9, Ride +15 (+17 to stay in the saddle)
Possessions: Figurines of Wondrous Power (Golden Lions, Marble Elephant), Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds (x2) (CL 8), Potion of Barkskin (CL 6), Potion of Greater Magic Fang (CL 12), Potion of Bulls Strength (x2), 5 flasks of acid, 10 sunrods, 5 flasks of alchemist’s fire, 2 flasks of impact foam, 1 flask of phosphorescent gel, 2 smokesticks 327 gp, exotic military saddle, portable alchemist’s lab, 3cp

[Techwarrior]

Contest is closed. Voting thread will be up most likely tomorrow when I don't have a funeral to attend.